This is an extra-special summer under the venerable West Porch Bech Tree at Old Westbury Gardens (Old Westbury, LI, NY) - the 10th season of the West Porch Beech Tree Concert Series!

On Sunday, July 7, at 3:00 PM. CROSS ISLAND - Suzanne Mueller, cello (and Beech Tree Concerts Artist-in-Residence), and Elinor Abrams Zayas, piano - together with clarinetist Sandy Tepper, will present the opening concert. The program will feature a broad range of solos, duets, and trios comprising a blend of beloved favorites (some with a twist) and new discoveries - all music we love and can't wait to share with our audience!

Old Westbury Gardens is one of our favorite destinations on Long Island. With its historic mansion and incredibly gorgeous grounds (featured in movies from Love Story and North by Northwest to Hitch and American Gangster, and in television shows including Sex and the City and, most recently, Royal Pains), it’s a great place to spend the day.

So, bring a picnic and a blanket or chair (or not - there are benches and chairs available) and enjoy an hour of great music in an enchanting setting And, while you're there, take a tour of the house and/or gardens – the docents are both knowledgeable and welcoming. In the event of rain (or significant threat thereof), we'll be in the loevely Red Ballroom - in the house, so please don't let bad weather keep you away (you can still take a tour of the house, too!

We begin with Rick Sowash's Morning, the first movement of his trio, Winds of May- a bright and breezy way to open the program!

Next up is Richard Rodney Bennett's lilting and lovely All in a Garden Green, for cello and piano.

Then, Sandy rejoins us for Franz Schubert's beloved Shepherd on the Rock, originally for clarinet, soprano, and piano, in an arrangement by John Gibson. A perfect work for the bucolic Gardens!

The trios continue with three short and unique waltzes composed for CROSS ISLAND in response to a call for submissions by Composer's Voice: Helga Beier's (W)einer (W)alzer (W)elcome; Dominic Dousa's Riding the Wave; and I'm So Happy; by Libby Moyer and John Spartan.

Then, Suzanne and Sandy perform Greg Bartholomew's duet, Return to Giverny, another short Composer's Voice work, premiered on this series last summer by Suzanne and clarinetist Thomas Piercy - inspired by Raisy Derzy's glorious painting of the same name (the cover art of CROSS ISLAND's 2011 CD, Quiet Strength). We've paired it with another trio waltz with an artistic and garden inspiration: Steven Kreamer's Monet's Garden, also written under the ausices of Composer's Voice.

Next a pair of very different duets by Rick Sowash: First, Suzanne and Ellie, with Rick's jazz-inflected Lullabye for Kara (from Quiet Strength); then, Suzanne and Sandy, with a new work, Movement IV of his Glory Hallelujah.